Monday, December 11, 2006

Men's Stores in Seattle

I'm just gonna finish off the list for now, because I feel like it. I was reading about the Seattle Premium Outlets and I just couldn't stand it. The Seattle Premium Outlets stand as the shiniest and newest outlet mall, although it's nearly 45 minutes or more north of city limits (which could be several hours when there's traffic...and there's always traffic) and half the time it's rather full of Canadian tourists getting helped at stores by silly hicks that dress horrifically and don't really know what's going on, but still feel the need to be snotty because they work at an "upscale outlet". God forbid. But they do have Burberry, Cole Haan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Movado, and all that good stuff. None of it is really amazing, nor a very good deal.

My favorite places to shop are:

- Blackbird, although it's in Ballard, about 10 minutes from downtown, has a great selection of everything from A.P.C. to Filippa K to Trovata to Cheap Monday to whatever slick brand might want.

- Nordstrom Downtown, which surprisingly has an amazing range of designer clothing for men. The selection rotates, but the men's designer section this month has Marc Jacobs Collection, Mason's, Neil Barrett, Marni (for men! yay!), dsquared2, and the like. As for more traditional wear, they have all that, from Armani Collezioni to Zegna. The Bellevue one is good too.

- Made-to-measure Giorgio Armani, Vestimenta and Ermenegildo Zegna is available at Butch Blum on 5th, next door to Barneys. Butch Blum also has a bunch of really great clothes for someone who wants to be very understated, including Ann Demeulemeester, Jil Sander, Nicole Farhi, Yohji Yamamoto, and the like.

- Barneys New York is extremely small, but they have a decently edited collection of everything from Trovata to Costume National to Dries van Noten.

- Anyone looking for something loud and proud can find it at David Lawrence on 4th, which has everything colorful and unsubtle, along the lines of Cavalli, Versace, D&G, dsquared2, Moschino and all that.

- Oslo's on Queen Anne is notable for the incredibly charming feel of the shop. They have what any guy can expect to wear on the weekends, from Earnest Sewn jeans to well-cut jackets. I love how they have a barber on Fridays and Saturdays. He seems to give a lot of hot shaves. And Oslo is the name of the lovely ginormous golden retriever that the owners keep around the store.

- Mario's on 6th feels like a cross between Barneys and Nordstrom. They have a ton of Prada, plus plenty of Kiton, Brioni, Loro Piana, Etro, Paul Smith, Dolce & Gabbana, and anything too expensive for my blood. Surprisingly nice people for the most part.

- Ian also has a location downtown on 2nd, which also has Trovata, Loomstate, Rogan, Duarte, rag & bone, and all that.